Several different kinds of drying sections of the aforesaid kind, intended for use within the aforesaid technical field are known to the art.
An example of one such drying section is illustrated and described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,925.
Thus, it is previously known to use a drying section comprising UV-light generating devices in a silk screen printer, for the purpose of drying print applied to print material in the printer, the print being applied with the aid of a colouring substance which is particularly adapted for drying with the aid of ultraviolet light.
It is also known that the composition of the colouring substances, and also the ability to harden said substances by ultraviolet light, is contingent on hardening in an inert atmosphere, if it is to be possible to effect the drying or hardening process at low energy consumptions.
An example of drying systems using ultraviolet light in an inert gaseous atmosphere is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,448.
It is also known to those skilled in this art that the UV-light generating devices used will generate large quantities of thermal energy and that it is therefore possible to use such a drying section when the colouring substance used to produce the print can be heat-dried.
The colouring substances can then be water-based colours.
Thus, the use of UV-light generating devices in drying sections affords the advantage of enabling one and the same drying section to be used for two or more different colouring substances.
Attempts have also been made to reduce the extent to which an inert gas is required during the drying stage.
The Swedish publication No. SE-B-451 381 teaches a quartz plate which is arranged to enclose a heat module divided into two parts, wherein a central slot and two edge related slots are arranged in parallel with one another and in a plane beneath the heating elements. The slots are intended to conduct cooling air between the material 11 and the plate 60.
The Swedish publication thus teaches an arrangement in which gas (air) is able to flow past the heat generating devices, such as to cool said devices and then passes through a glass plate onto the material, so as also to cool the material. This arrangement might be considered to have something in common with the present invention.